Switched

By kiwime

Summary: She thought in her line of work holding on to love was harder than holding onto anything else. She was wrong. It was worse.


Previously:

"You're pathetic," she taunted, "… you need a weapon to beat me."

"No, not pathetic, smart," he laughed and pull the trigger.


Genma ran into Ino's house noticing the door jammed open. He saw everything thrown around in the room and the pit of his stomach turned. He looked around the room to see no one and so he ran into the bathroom to see someone broke into the lair. His heart was beating fast knowing that the blonde male may not have survived. He ran into the tunnel and saw a small light at the end. He ran and soon noticed a body on the floor within sight. When he reached the curve, he realized the body did not belong to the blonde. He breathed out a sigh and grabbed the flashlight that was on. He looked around the tunnel to make sure no one was there, and no one was.

He left the tunnel and took off knowing that the blonde was ok, for now.

-o-o-

Naruto kept running. He was out of breath and fell down against the grass. He breathed in deeply and choked a bit from the rush of air. He heard footsteps nearing him and he pushed himself up and was ready to run, but he couldn't.

"Stop running from me," the voice said and Naruto turned to see who it was.

"Hello, brother," he said smiling, "… I am so glad to finally meet you."

"I am not your brother!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried standing from the crap.

"Oh, you don't mean that," the man before him faked sadness; "… we share the same father after all."

"What do you want from me!" Naruto fisted his hands.

"Join me brother," the man before him offered, "… we could be the future."

"I want nothing to do with you," Naruto gritted out.

-o-o-

"Kakashi, where is Ino?" Anko huffed out.

"I don't know," the silver haired male admitted after finding all the unwanted guests.

"Go protect the kid!" their boss ordered, "… half of you go with them, the other half take care of this!"

"Hai," everyone said.

Kakashi and Anko took off hearing a shot fired and they knew it was not a good thing to hear.

-o-o-

The shot blared by his face.

"I do not want to kill you Naruto," the man walked closer, "… if you want, we can do an exchange."

"What do you mean!" Naruto held his shoulder.

The man before him snapped his finger and the male beside him left behind a tree and brought a female with pink hair toward him.

"Sakura!" Naruto screamed out and was about to rush toward them, but his half-brother waved the gun he was holding toward the female.

"Now, now," he started, "… would you want a bullet in her head?" he placed the hold next to the side of her head. Her eyes widened and tears begun to fall. Her body was bound and her mouth was taped so she was unable to say anything.

"Let her go," Naruto gritted out angrily.

"If you join me," the man said, "… Uki and Naruto, the brothers!"

"If I join you, you would let her go?" Naruto spoke sternly as he watched the way Sakura's head shook as if to say no.

"Of course I would," Uki smirked, "… if any of you do anything, I would kill her," he concluded smiling all the while staring at the blonde.

"Let her go," Genma called out pointing a gun at the suspect as he finally reached them.

"Do not let him get to you Naruto," Kakashi tried to reason with the blonde.

"You have to promise me, you would not hurt her," Naruto stared strictly at the man before him.

"Of course," he grinned.

"Fine, I will join you," Naruto nodded.

"So good to hear!" the man exude excitement, "… go on Bestrow, let the girl go."

Sakura was thrown down and Naruto ran up to pick her up. She was crying and Naruto kept holding onto her.

Everyone held their breath hearing the cock of the gun. Naruto stared up confused to see the same wicked smile on the man's face.

"You joined," he clarified, "… we get rid of everyone who we care for."

"Wait! You promise you wouldn't hurt her!" Naruto remembered.

"Yes I did didn't I," Uki nodded, "… that was before you joined."

"You bastard!" Naruto screamed out only to cause the grin to grow even more.

"Say goodbye to your love," his fingers were on the trigger.

A shot was heard.

The man before them fell forward as a bullet shot through his skull. The man beside him turned to saw nothing but blur as he fell as well. Everyone looked to see who it was to see a blonde who held bruises and bullet wounds all over her body. She walked toward the body and stared at it for a few seconds before falling forward.

"Ino! Ino!"

-o-o-

She opened her eyes softly to see the white ceiling staring at her. She blinked a few times before turning her head to the side to see no one there. She let out a soft sigh and faced the ceiling once more hoping to fall asleep.

"You're awake," she heard a voice said coming into the room.

"How do you feel?" the voice asked inching closer to her.

"How is everyone?" she asked instead.

"They are fine, just rest. When you wake once more, you would feel so much better than you do now," the nurse said.

"Oi Momo," Ino paused, "… Kurenai…"

"I'm sorry Ino," was all she could say watching the sadness cross the blonde's face.

"Did you give me something?" Ino questioned as her eyes became heavy.

"Yes, feeling sleepy?" Momo asked with a smile.

"Hm…" was all Ino could get out before she went back into slumber.

When she came to once more, she was greeted by Genma who just kept smiling. She gave him a questioning look as he didn't say anything. She decided to just glare at him as he helped her onto the wheelchair. As he was pushing her, she just couldn't help thinking about those who had suffered from such fate.

"Stop with all the thinking already, you're supposed to relax," he told her as he pushed her into the elevator.

"You're right," she nodded.

"I'm always right," he whispered in her ears and she couldn't help smiling as she rolled her eyes.

The sound to their floor came and he rolled her along toward the entrance of the hospital to see people watching her with smiles.

"What's going on?" she questioned.

"Let's just say we recognize you as one of the top," Genma smirked.

"You all know I am at the top," Ino blandly said.

"Ino!" they shouted crowding her.

"Ino," a stern voice spoke as he walked closer to the female, "… you've done well."

"Thank you," she bowed slightly.

"Thank you Ino, for saving all of us," Sakura said before looking at Naruto and nudging him.

"Um…" Naruto walked up to the blonde, "… you… you saved my life…" he paused, "… well, it was actually Sakura's… but you saved our lives. Thank you."

"I made a promise," Ino smiled, "… I never break them."

"Oh…" Naruto rubbed his head and a fake cough from a certain pinkette caught his attention, "… oh yeah…" Naruto scratched his chin, "… is there anything we can do for you?"

There was a pause and a peaceful moment of silence made Ino wanted to fall asleep once more, but how could she when there were people watching her and waiting for an answer.

"Yes," she said softly and Naruto asked what it was and she replied, "… take care of one another."

"Of course," he chuckled and her boss walked and stood beside her facing the crowd.

"Roy and Joe will be taking you all back home," he said, "… be careful and do not speak of this to others."

"But…" someone tried to say, but a hand was covering her mouth to stop her from continuing.

"You got it!" a few agreed and they walked away.

"Bye Ino!" Sakura called out as they were herded away.

"Thanks for everything!" Naruto waved, "… and take care of yourself!"

Ino just waved goodbye watching their smiles fade off into the distance. Once they were gone, she knew there were still issues that needed to be resolved.

"How did they find us," Ino asked.

"They placed a chip in the blonde's head. Apparently they wanted to capture his mind," Genma informed, "… if he didn't join Uki, the creeper would've made someone just like him."

"Now that he is dead," the boss started in, "… we have no idea where he is holding the hostages."

"There is a way," Kakashi chimed in, "… do not forget those who we have caught."

"You kept them alive?" their boss gave an angry questioning look, "… did I not tell you to get rid of them?"

"Yes you did," Kakashi nodded, "… I apologize for not obeying orders, but I was told by someone important to save them."

"Who?" their boss looked at the silver haired male and the brunette who looked down to where the blonde sat silently facing forward, "… Ino Yamanaka," she turned to look up at him, "… good thinking," he decided to say after a few minutes.

"Thank you sir," she nodded, "… let's finish this case."